As regards the access of the competent national authorities to the retained data, the Court
confirms that the national legislation concerned cannot be limited to requiring that access should
be for one of the objectives referred to in the directive, even if that objective is to fight serious
crime, but must also lay down the substantive and procedural conditions governing the access of
the competent national authorities to the retained data. That legislation must be based on
objective criteria in order to define the circumstances and conditions under which the
competent national authorities are to be granted access to the data. Access can, as a general
rule, be granted, in relation to the objective of fighting crime, only to the data of individuals
suspected of planning, committing or having committed a serious crime or of being implicated in
one way or another in such a crime. However, in particular situations, where for example vital
national security, defence or public security interests are threatened by terrorist activities, access
to the data of other persons might also be granted where there is objective evidence from which it
can be inferred that that data might, in a specific case, make an effective contribution to combating
such activities.
Further, the Court considers that it is essential that access to retained data should, except in
cases of urgency, be subject to prior review carried out by either a court or an independent
body. In addition, the competent national authorities to whom access to retained data has been
granted must notify the persons concerned of that fact.
Given the quantity of retained data, the sensitivity of that data and the risk of unlawful access to it,
the national legislation must make provision for that data to be retained within the EU and
for the irreversible destruction of the data at the end of the retention period.
NOTE: A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes
which have been brought before them, to refer questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of
European Union law or the validity of a European Union act. The Court of Justice does not decide the
dispute itself. It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance with the Court’s
decision, which is similarly binding on other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
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